Small cats are better fried whole U know biscuit cats. Large cats are better cut up in nuggets deep fried in House Autrey Breading with a lot of Tabasco Sauce on them . It will make your mouth water. The best cat's I have ever eaten was in Gueydan,LA.

I would rather fry whole but, the absolute best way to prepare a catfish is to butterfly filet about a 4-5 pounder, stuff that filet with some fresh picked blue crab meat, butter her down real good and broil it in the oven.

For me, a lot depends on the size of the fish. If it's over 2#, it's too big for be to cooked whole. One of the classic Chinese dishes is to cut the fish into steaks, saute with black bean sauce and garlic, and then re-assemble the pieces on a platter for serving.

Most of the time, I fillet the cats before cooking them, because no one else in the house will eat them cooked whole. However, since you are allowed an extra 10 channel cats below 16" in length on the Arkansas River, I occasionally keep several that size to cook whole for myself.

If you fillet cats larger than, say, 6# or so, be sure to save the ribs and backbone. Sprinkle them with seasoning (I use lemon pepper.) and broil them. Since there are no small bones to worry about, it's very easy to simply flake off the meat, which is some of the best tasting on the fish.